Today is the day Star Trek: Strange New Worlds debuts on Paramount+! The series star Anson Mount reprising his role as both Starfleet and Star Trek’s first Captain. In celebration we have looked back on Captain Christopher Pike’s many appearances from the very first pilot of the series all the way up through his Prime Universe reintroduction in Star Trek: Discovery and come up with five recommendations for you to watch to understand the most about who this character is.
5. Star Trek (2009)
This movie had so much heavy lifting to do when it debuted in 2009. In fact, we love Star Trek (2009) so much we dedicated an entire episode of Jason and Ashley’s Excellent Adventures to the movie before we regularly featured Movie Retrospective Episodes on Geek History Lesson. By leading the way with Captain Pike the Kelvinverse was able to dedicate a good amount of screen time and character development to the Kirk/Spock/McCoy dynamic fans of Star Trek: the Original Series have come to know and love. Not only does it allow the movie series to earn the iconic Star Trek trifecta, but it gives Captain Pike the most character development he had ever had up to this point in franchise history. Actor Bruce Greenwood not only gives an incredible performances as Captain Christopher Pike, hero against Nero and mentor to James T. Kirk, but it one of the greatest actors to ever portray Batman for his work in Batman: Under the Red Hood. He’s the tough space dad who is willing to shoulder danger in order to protect his crew. Not only is Greenwood’s Pike an exemplary Starfleet Officer, he is an exemplary military officer. What happens to the character in future installments of the Kelvinverse trilogy is nothing short of a travesty, but if you or someone you love is unfamiliar with Captain Pike Star Trek (2009) is one of the best introductions to the character you could ever ask for without being bogged down by the weight of mythology or baggage which often comes with the corresponding television shows.
4. The Menagerie (Star Trek: the Original Series)
These two part episodes were the most recognizable portrayals of Captain Pike on screen for the better part of a century. When you think of Captain Pike and Anson Mount doesn’t jump to mind you are probably visualize the image of actor Sean Kenney sitting immobilized in his Professor-X-style wheelchair answering questions only with beeps emitting from his machine. This image of Captain Pike is so legendary it has been parodied to death by comedians and science fiction across generations - notably in the Futurama episode A Clone of My Own with Captain Musky and Where No Fan Has Gone Before when various characters give testimony only in binary beeps from within a Captain-Pike-esque chair. While The Mangerie’s Captain Pike doesn’t speak this comatose state is the tragic ending to which Captain Pike seems to inevitably be throttling. By knowing where Captain Pike ends up the character is cemented as truly Shakespearean in his nature. The hubris, bravery, and strength on display in The Cage comes to no good by the time The Menagerie debuts in Star Trek: the Original Series. The non-tragic side of this episode is viewers get a chance to see Captain Pike interacting with the crew of Kirk’s Enterprise for the first time in television history - except Spock, of course, who also appeared in The Cage.
3. Brother (Star Trek: Discovery)
If you are a NuTrek watcher you will recognize this title of the season 2 episode wherein Anson Mount made his debut as the latest actor to play the legendary Captain Pike for a new generation of Trekkies and Trekkers. Professor Jason was a big fan of Hell on Wheels (which also featured Star Trek: The Next Generation and Deep Space Nine alumn, Colm Meaney!), so we were excited about Mount’s casting from the get-go. To be fair, we were excited to see him in Inhumans as well (as Black Bolt), and that was not enough to finish out the first season of the show. Brother stands out as an excellent Captain Pike episode because he could so easily have been overshadowed by the co-introduction of Ethan Peck’s Spock. Spock being the most important character to ever come out of the Star Trek franchise. Instead, Mount’s performance balances authority and comedy. He is immediately likable and is a bright, affable foil next to Doug Jones’ Saru (who we also love!), often prone to an over-serious tone. From jump it was clear Captain Pike was going to be a breath of fresh air to Star Trek: Discovery. For a contemporary audience member, Brother is a clean and positive introduction to character who carries as much baggage as Captain Pike does.
He also, super casually, saves Michael Burnham over the course of the episode as well. A strong debut for new viewers, Captain Pike!
2. New Eden (Star Trek: Discovery)
Within the secular humanist future Star Trek exists within it can be strange to find stories centered around religion. This is one of the many reasons Anson Mount’s Captain Pike’s approach to an alien religious society remains so impressive to us years after New Eden first aired. In the Prime timeline this episode is, arguably, the most revealing about who Captain Christopher Pike is as a person. The veins of religion running through this captain isn’t necessarily something we really feel was telegraphed by previous events and episodes, but it is an interesting detail which will inform who this character is as he steps into the leading role of his own show. This shared experience between two entirely different species shows a tremendous amount of empathy from Captain Pike in stark contrast the the brusque, tough version of the character Jeffrey Hunter first brought to the screen in the original Star Trek pilot episode. Plus, any episode where we get to watch a Starfleet Captain struggle with the ethics of the Prime Directive always makes for good drama. Arguably, his choice to eventually reveal to a local (named Jacob), that he and the landing party are from another planet, despite the society’s pre-warp capabilities. The choice to have Captain Pike embrace “the right thing” regardless of protocol places him among the ranks of our favourite Captains in Star Trek.
We’ll also tack on the note of New Eden being one of the best episodes of Star Trek: Discovery period. End of discussion.
1. The Cage (Star Trek original pilot episode)
It’s the debut of Captain Pike! It’s iconic! It’s the first time Star Trek was ever seen out in the world! You have to have known there was no way anything other than The Cage was going to be topping this list you are reading. The aforementioned Jeffrey Hunter swaggers his way through the events of The Cage as the most aggressive Starfleet Captain we have ever seen (until Lorca came along …), leading a Star Trek television show. This unaired pilot is an exercise in the power of editing, notes, and revision. The only thing from the pilot which survived was Leonard Nimoy’s Spock who receives a promotion from Science Officer to First Officer by the time he joins Captain Kirk’s crew. Hunter’s Pike is much more akin to Buck Rogers than William Shatner’s Captain Kirk. He drinks. He argues. He takes no guff and he dives into danger. Captain Pike’s willingness to lead from the front is echoed later by both Bruce Greenwood and Anson Mount when they come to their time in the chair. Despite this only being one episode Hunter emerges fully formed as Captain Pike. He is both the blueprint and the antithesis of everything Starfleet Captains have been in the intervening decades. The character doesn’t change a whole lot from here to present day, but for the flushing out of some backstory, it is the concept of what a Star Trek episode is which evolves. If you want to fully comprehend who Christopher Pike is and why he deserves to spend more time captaining both a starship and a television show we cannot encourage you enough to spend some time with The Cage then deconstruct all things Trek which have subsequently emerged.